Take a peek behind the scenes at the self-proclaimed "Bastion of Fundamentalism" and "Fortress of Faith," Bob Jones University. A Bob Jones University graduate takes a close look at the Joneses, Bob Jones University, and the national network of Bob Jones-styled fundamentalist churches and ministries staffed by Bob Jones University graduates and influenced by the pragmatic philosophies and principles taught and practiced by BJU.
Jonesianism, a term perhaps first coined in BJU Exposed, is simply modern-day Phariseeism. Jonesianism is essentially a combination of psuedo-religious legalism with endless man-made rules given Ten Commandment-status, religious hypocrisy, extreme sectarianism, religious pride, and pervasive intellectual, ecclesiastic, ethical corruption and dishonesty all ruled over by a few men who embodied the worst qualities of the original Pharisees and whose teachings and actions cannot be questioned.

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June 25, 2008

The Bomb And Its Fallout: Bob Jones University v. United States

Quote of the Day:

"Today, I met with the administrators this afternoon before coming here. Let me tell you why we dropped it...We have a broader testimony, and if all anybody can see is this rule which we never talk about or preach, which most of our students couldn't even tell you what it is, it's that unimportant to us. I said to our administration, 'You know guys, this thing is of such insignificance to us; it's so significant to the world at large. Why should we have this here as an obstacle? It hurts our graduates; our concern for the cause of Christ; our concern for our graduates; our concern for our testimony; our concern for the school's broader usefulness is greater to us than a rule that we never talk about and it is meaningless to us. The principle upon which it is based is very important, but the rule itself is not..."

"No, we can’t back it up with a verse from the Bible. We never have tried to. We have never tried to do that. But we have said there is a principle here, an overriding principle of the one world government. But let me tell you how insignificant this is. Students never hear it preached. There have been four, five, six generations of students that graduated from there have never heard this preached in our chapel or taught in our school." (Bob Jones III, March 3, 2000 interview on Larry King Live responding to questions regarding the basis for BJU's interracial dating/marriage ban.)

Jon Henry at Please Reconcile has done an excellent, nearly exhaustive job of recounting, line-by-line, the many untruths wrapped up in the LKL interview and in the above statement by Bob Jones III. While Bob Jones III deliberately sought to deceive Larry King and his audience by saying, "...Students never hear it preached. There have been four, five, six generations of students that graduated from there have never heard this preached in our chapel or taught in our school...," the truth is otherwise. In short, Bob Jones III lied repeatedly throughout the interview.

Jonathan Pait, BJU's current public relations guru, knows the truth. He wrote at least one 1998 letter to an applicant in an interracial marriage explaining how the applicant's wife could not be a student. Paul Achterberg, BJU Admissions Counselor, also wrote a similar email in 1998. Unfortunately, this particular applicant published Pait's and Achtergerg's letters on his website. How many more such letters went out?

In public interviews with the Greenville print and broadcast media, Bob Jones III declared his interracial dating/marriage Rules to be based upon "Bible policy." Yet, preacher Bob Jones III preached and proclaimed his interracial marriage ban publicly. Are we to believe that those his "students never hear it preached" in the news media? Don't BJU students read the newspaper, listen to the radio, and watch television?

Maybe his students are isolated and get their news from BJU's Bookstore. Those students who received all their information from the University bookstore had the opportunity to purchase a pamphlet by Dr. Marshall Neal of the BJU Bible Department. The bookstore sold Dr. Neal's 8 page pamphlet WITH SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES, defending Bob Jones University's interracial dating/marriage Rule and teachings.

Yet, Bob Jones III testified before the world that "There have been four, five, six generations of students that graduated from [BJU who] have NEVER heard this preached in our chapel or taught in our school." Mr. Jones III's statement is demonstrably false. Was this due to an oversight or is it evidence of a deliberate act of dishonesty? If it was an oversight, why hasn't Mr. Bob Jones III publicly retracted and corrected his statement?

Who but a blind follower of the blind would argue that the Rules were "meaningless" and "insignificant" and "never talked about or preached" to those students who were expelled because of the Rules? Clearly, BJU took their interracial dating ban Rules very seriously.

In March, 2000, Bob Jones III tried to paint the Rules as "insignificant" and "meaningless" in an apparent attempt to soften BJU's image. But in 1970 Bob Jones III sang a different song. The interracial Rules were important then. Despite pleas from attorney John Whitehead and warnings that pursuing this issue through the courts could have unintended consequences for Christian organizations in the future, Bob Jones III insisted on making the Rules the subject of a real, live 'federal case' in 1973 when it filed "Bob Jones University v. The United States" in federal court.

And, it was in prosecuting his 'federal case' in the Federal Courts and in the public arena - in full view of his students, graduates, and staff - that Bob Jones III preached and taught his brand of unyielding fundamentalist religious beliefs, convictions, and so called "Bible policy" supporting his interracial dating/marriage ban Rules.

In careful review of Mr. Jones' Larry King Live interview, one cannot help Mr. Jones' statements were not slips of memory. They were practiced, calculated falsehoods designed to conceal, mislead, and deceive Larry King and his audience about the true history and nature of BJU's interracial dating/marriage Rules. In the final analysis, Bob Jones III was forced to drop his Rules amidst a flurry of untruths.

Background

As any preacher or educator knows, nothing preaches or teaches principles and precepts to a student as loudly as a preacher's or an educator's example. Through BJU's interracial dating/marriage spectacle, the entire country came to link Bob Jones University - and its students, graduates, and faculty - with an ill-conceived, bigoted religious doctrine, proclaimed by Bob Jones III to be based upon the Bible.

As the case wound its way through the Federal courts, Bob Jones and BJU were successful in convincing the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court that: "...A primary fundamentalist conviction of Bob Jones University is that the Scriptures forbid interracial dating and marriage..." (I remember being taught at BJU that "convictions are carefully based upon Scripture and never change whereas preferences can change at will.")

When the Supreme Court ruled against Bob Jones III and his Rules in 1983, Mr. Jones spoke passionately in interviews with the print and broadcast media regarding the ruling against BJU and its interracial dating ban:

"Religious freedom has been murdered by the Supreme Court today."

"...By ruling against BJU, the Supreme Court justices have demonstrated that they are enemies of heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ. I fear for America and for the Court."

"The court's ruling is an example of what is happening to religious freedom in America. There's not much difference between us and Russia. Russia did this to religion a long time ago; it just took us a little longer..."

"We believe the policy that has gotten us in difficulty is a Bible policy and we're going to hold onto it...We won't change the policy. We will pay the taxes we have to pay and trust the Lord to sustain the institution as long as He wants to sustain it."

Bob Jones III preached his religious beliefs to the media. Those interviews were, of course, read and watched by the students at BJU.

I also understand from students that Bob Jones III preached about the interracial dating/marriage ban in chapel as late as 1995 or 1996.

(A fuller discussion of Bob Jones III's handling of the interracial dating ban controversy and the facts surrounding it can be viewed here.)

The "Bomb" Pamphlet

Bob Jones III and the University, with the aid of students, graduates, and Board members, published a thirty-one page pamphlet titled THE BOMB AND ITS FALLOUT Bob Jones University v. United States. The pamphlet states and concludes, in part:

1. "The university had a policy, based on its understanding of the Bible, that forbade interracial dating and marriage among its students. In order to make that policy easier to enforce, the university did not admit blacks..."

2. "In spite of lengthy finding of fact in the District Court that Bob Jones University was 'like a church' and 'pervasively religious,' the Supreme Court saw fit to separate its religious purpose from its educational function."

3. "Unquestionably, our doctrine is not held universally, but whose is?"

4. "Bob Jones University does not discriminate on the basis of race. It holds the doctrine that interracial marriage is contrary to principles set forth in God's Word. Students who do not wish to subscribe to the University's rules prohibiting interracial dating and marriage do not have to attend this institution."

5. "Our right to be Bible-believing is the issue. This is religious freedom in a nutshell...."

Bob Jones III and the university seemed to think and act under some notion of corporate immunity which exempted them from the Bible's clear teaching. "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men..." (1 Corinthians 15:39, and others). Apparently such clear statements were not granted authority by Mr. Jones and, thus, failed to "pierce the corporate veil" at Bob Jones University; students and faculty were divided into Caucasians, Orientals (their word for Asians at the time), and Negroes.

Despite Bob Jones III's rejection of Biblical authority in this area, his handling of the whole mess brings into question how doctrines and dogmas are formulated by Mr. Jones and BJU's Bible faculty. It brings into question their level of responsibility and competency. It's hard to retain credibility when an organization claims to do things based on a vague but important Bible "principle" and "Bible policy".

It is only made worse when his paid Bible scholars on his staff repeatedly change Scriptural passages purporting to support his position. It gives the impression that the policy preceded assemblage of Scriptural support and undermines the credibility of the staff. As if it could not get worse, it does when Bob Jones III was asked for a Bible verse supporting his position and Bob Jones III publicly denied ever having tried to do so.

Honest people don't normally lie about honest "mistakes". Bob Jones III's flurry of lies on Larry King Live were deliberately designed to conceal and to distort reality in order to deceive others. Like Nixon, Bob Jones III's cover up only made things worse. Now, it is impossible for Bob Jones III and his defenders to defend BJU's interracial rules as an honest mistake based upon honestly mistaken Scriptural interpretation.

The blow to Bob Jones III's credibility - within and without- is huge. Bob Jones III invoked the authority of God's Word in support of his interracial dating Rules, fought for the right to retain those Rules all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, suffered the loss of BJU's tax-exempt status, expelled those who violated the Rules, fired employees whose church violated that which he claimed was "Bible policy" in support of his interracial marriage ban, claimed the Rules were never talked about or preached to the students and were meaningless and insignificant, and, then, he drops the Rules! What kind of person is going to entrust the formulation of religious doctrines and dogmas to this kind of person?

Those who formulate doctrines - especially doctrines by those who loudly claim they are Christians, preach the Gospel, and who claim their beliefs are based on so called Bible policy and principles - assume a high level of responsibility. The Bible is clear in Revelation 22: 18 and 19 regarding those who "add unto" or "take away from" God's Word.

Certainly, Bob Jones III and the BJU faculty members who supported his pet interracial dating/marriage ban doctrine assumed a serious responsibility when they formulated and propagated a doctrine dividing God's people by racial lines.

Yet, Bob Jones III defended himself and his interpretation of God's Word by saying that because he runs a family-owned educational corporation that he is free to interpret Scripture as he wishes. Bob Jones III seems to think that because he runs a family owned para-religious business, he can develop a religious doctrine, publicly propagate it, and claim it is "Bible policy" with impunity so long as people who "do not wish to subscribe to the University's rules prohibiting interracial dating and marriage do not have to attend this institution." I wonder how that argument would have fared in Galatians 2 when Paul publicly rebuked Peter for causing a division within the Church? Not well.

Often it is said at BJU: "There is no difference between the sacred and the secular." Yet, with regards to the interracial marriage controversy, it seems that the message Bob Jones III was trying to send was that his secular family business, BJU, is not subject to principles applicable to the sacred or subject to what God's Word really teaches about interracial marriage. So, then, it appears that Bob Jones III and the BJU staffers who claim "Bob Jones University stands without apology for the absolute authority of the Bible" are trying to have it both ways.

It reminds one of the politician who said, "I don't care who votes. I only care who counts the votes!" In effect, Bob Jones III and BJU have been saying, "We don't care what the Bible teaches so long as we can interpret it the way most beneficial to ourselves and formulate Bible policies that are in line with what we want." And, that is the way Bob Jones III and BJU operated - with the tacit approval of the University constituency - until the national media helped Mr. Jones and BJU see the error of their religious beliefs and inappropriateness of their exercise of religious freedom.

God's Word says in Romans 16, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple."

Yet, Bob Jones III, with the aid of his Bible faculty, fellow preachers, and supporters, succeeded in deceiving thousands of trusting young people into adopting a religious doctrine, purportedly based upon Bible beliefs and religious freedom, that the Bible specifically forbade interracial marriage.

The sad thing is, until now, nobody within the BJU camp had the Pauline fortitude to "mark" Bob Jones III and BJU and "avoid them" for "causing divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine" taught in the Bible they all claim to believe and obey. But, there is a group of BJU graduates who have, after a fashion, petitioned Bob Jones III and BJU to repent for the many sins committed in the furtherance of BJU's interracial dating/marriage debacle.

Hopefully, they will apply enough pressure to Bob Jones III and BJU to beg forgiveness from those they have defrauded in this matter.